Sunday, October 23, 2011

This coming Tuesday, I will be 34 weeks. Last week, I had an ultrasound and midwife appt. The baby's momma and the baby's aunt came to the appt. It was so nice to see them again. There were no problems reported from ultrasound, baby is head down, my blood pressure remains great and baby's heart rate is great. Everyone wants me to get a flu shot so I need to get that done. We discussed labor & delivery options. The plan is for the momma to spend the night in the room with me on the pull out bed and be able to care for the baby immediately. I have my Strep B test next appt. If it is negative, the baby can leave the hospital after 24 hours, otherwise will need to stay 48 hours. The big news is that this baby is ALREADY measuring at 5 pounds, 15 ounces - basically 6 pound baby! The midwife estimated an 8 pounder for sure! Oh my! My biggest/last/3rd child was 7.7.On the way home, I was filled with emotion as this journey is nearing the end. It is difficult to explain all the emotions involved with surrogacy. Sometimes I feel detached from it, just performing a "job", then other times I grasp the significance of it all.......wow, it really is amazing. Lately, I have felt the desire to have a baby to love. I wish my sister who is due in a few weeks lived closer so I could love on her baby - she lives 14 hours away. I do NOT want another baby to raise - no way, just to love on. It is very weird - all these feelings. The feelings for this baby IS different from what I felt for my own children - I loved my children and knew the responsibility that I would have after their birth to continue that love and nurturing. I care for this baby and feel responsible for it's well-being while it is with me, but will be ready to pass this baby on to it's parents to love and nurture. My body and hormones are telling me to prepare to care for a newborn, but my mind tells me the reality of the situation.......we are also VERY done having children for ourselves, so the desire to have another one for ourselves is NOT there. However, it is weird to feel that feeling of wanting to be around a baby to love on. Does anyone understand this???? We are all getting super excited to meet this baby and add a wonderful addition to a great family!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

My family

Welcome to my surrogacy blog!

Hi. My name is Carla. I am married to Brian. We have been married almost 10 years. We had 3 children in 2.5 years: Gareth (6-06), Zane (9-07), and Iris (1-09). Brian works as a web programmer. I used to be a social worker for people with developmental disabilities, but now stay home with our children.

In June 2009, we moved from a nice, cookie cutter subdivision to a humble, little, farm house, on 10 acres, in rural east central Illinois. We are interested in living a simpler life moving towards self sufficiency. We are interested in homesteading, gardening, beekeeping, and atheism/secular humanism/skepticism. I am a crafter of all sorts of creations - love to sew and quilt, and have many other interests, including weaving, pottery, painting, scrapbooking, among other things.

Our family feels complete - we are very done having babies for ourselves! My husband had a vasectomy to ensure that we would not be surprised with another baby.

I started thinking about becoming a gestational surrogate during my second pregnancy. The feelings I had did not fade, so here we are now. We were lucky enough to conceive quickly/naturally and have "easy" pregnancies. I have friends and have read about many people that have fertility issues and it does not come so easily for them. It saddens me that they can not fulfill their dreams. I was able to help a couple complete their family, delivering a baby girl, in December 2011. I am now on my second and final journey, helping 2 men from Argentina become daddies, with additional help from an egg donor.

Feel free to ask any questions. I tend to be an open book as long as there is genuine, sincere, respectful interest.